Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

I've been thinking about the armour of God recently and this is a fun activity that really helps to emphasize the idea of 'standing firm' in the strength that God gives. It also really takes me back to my childhood of playing with 'Weebles' (they wobble, but they don't fall down!) You will need: permanent marker pens, plastic Easter eggs that can be opened up, blue tack, marbles, small decorative stickers. An important attribute of the armour of God is that it helps us to stand our ground and to stand firm against the things that might try to upset us and throw us off course. These ‘weebles’ might wobble, but they will stand their ground and not fall over!  Open up a plastic Easter egg and put a blob of blue tack on the inside, at the bottom. Wedge a marble on top of the blue tack so that it stays in place.  Close the Easter egg and decorate it with the permanent markers and stickers to reflect your personality. ...

Here is a new reflective colouring sheet which focusses on Psalm 27:1- one of most favourite Bible verses: The Lord is my light and the one who saves me. So why should I fear anyone? Here are some ideas: Use the time you spend colouring to... Talk about:  What/ who is the strongest thing/ person you know? Why is light important and useful? How can God/ people be like light for others? What does it mean for someone to save us? How do you think God saves us? What makes you afraid? What helps you when you are afraid? Have you ever asked God to help you? Pray As you colour, pray for people who are afraid and ask God to help them and save them.  Children might want to ask God to help them with specific fears. To print off the colouring sheet  click here .

The Story of Esther hinges on an ordinary woman, in an extraordinary situation, having to show a great deal of courage.  Although the name of God is not specifically mentioned in the whole of the book, Esther must be rooted in her identity as one of the people of God so that she can help to save them.  This prayer activity will help children to visualise the amazing help and courage that God can bring. You will need: A ziplock or sealable sandwich bag, water, sharp pencils and pens Fill the sandwich bag with water (leave some space at the top) and seal it. Talk about the times when we need to have courage.  What are the things that scare us and we worry about having to do?  The things that we worry will hurt us?  Ask children what would happen if we poke a pencil in the plastic bag? Hopefully they will suggest that it will leak!  Take a pencil and poke it all the way through the bag (see picture above).  There is no leakage whatsoever.  ...

This craft is very messy, requires some patience and is very effective for exploring the idea of Jesus giving us the strength we need (e.g when looking at verses such as Philippians 4:13). You will need: wool, PVA (white) glue, greaseproof or waxed paper, string, at least 24 hours!  Cut lengths of wool and dip them in PVA.  Cover the strands quite thickly and be prepared to get very messy and sticky.   Arrange the wool in patterns on top of the greaseproof paper.  We made crosses but you can do anything!  Make sure that each strand of wool connects with at least one other strand so that they will stick together when the project dries. Now wait AT LEAST 24 hours for your artwork to dry.  The wool will stiffen.  Even if you think it is dry- wait!   Carefully pull the dried projects off the paper and thread some string through them so that they can be hung in windows or from door handles. Talk about: sometimes we find things ha...

This is one of the activities we did yesterday when some classes from school came to do the Easter journey at church.  We used it to help talk about the garden of Gethsemane and how Jesus prayed to God to help him do the difficult thing he was faced with. We showed the children a long length of rope and talked about its strength and the fact that sometimes, when people are in trouble we talk about 'throwing them a rope' to help rescue them.  We used this to talk about the times in our life when things are hard and we need to ask for help because we can't do it by ourselves.  This led to talking about how Christians believe that God will help them and give them strength to get through.  We asked each child to think about who they would ask for help.  Would it be a particular person?  Would it be God?  Then each child came to tie a length of ribbon to the rope (held between two adults) as a symbol of thanks for the person who helps them to be strong...